What is the name of the gadget? Gadget. What it is? Even a teapot understands

Gadgets - what are they? Nowadays, this concept is increasingly found in Everyday life, not to mention specialized electronics stores or computer forums. The word “gadget” itself came to us from the English language and is translated into Russian as “device.” In other words, gadgets are electronic devices. Their main purpose is to help modern man in his life, giving it additional brightness and richness, simplicity and comfort.

The first gadgets appeared in the middle of the twentieth century. However, over time, and also thanks to rapid development technologies, these devices were changed and improved: the speed of operation, functionality, and practicality increased, while they became lighter and more compact. For example, everyone remembers how cassette player replaced its predecessor - a bulky tape recorder, then devices appeared that reproduced the mp3 format. And nowadays we already have the opportunity to store gigabytes of music using a small but very capacious flash memory card. A similar story is happening with personal computers: the original bulky devices that took up several rooms were replaced by small PCs, then laptops, ultrabooks appeared, and now more and more people are using compact tablets and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Cars are already equipped with not just music players, but real media combines, and now passengers have the opportunity not only to listen to music, but also to watch videos.

Continuing the automotive theme, one cannot fail to mention another important gadget - a GPS navigator. If the driver does not know the area well, use of this device he can easily find the easiest and most optimal path to his destination. And street video recording cameras have become indispensable assistants traffic police officers, allowing you to quickly track the coordinates of the offender.

Many have already appreciated all the benefits that gadgets bring to our lives - that this is a device that is capable of performing the most unexpected features. For example, there are special thermal mugs that allow you to brew tea when connected to your PC via a USB port. Or glasses with a built-in camera, allowing you to view videos in 3D format and much more. In general, the imagination of gadget creators knows no bounds!

IN Lately popularity increases various types communicators. With their help, you can not only make a call anywhere in the world, but also watch photos, TV programs, listen to music or work in any application. And thanks to their small size, they can easily fit into a purse or pocket. Of course, in order to use a gadget, a person must understand the latest digital technologies, otherwise it's smart device It will become just a useless, expensive toy in the wrong hands. However, it is worth noting that fewer and fewer people are asking the question: “Gadgets - what are they?”

It is worth mentioning separately such an important class of devices as office gadgets. After all, these little helpers allow you to dilute the melancholy of gray everyday life and fill the most dull and ordinary working day with colors. Each employee strives to make his personal space the most original, to the envy of his colleagues. And gadgets are perfect for this. Exists great amount devices that allow you to do this. For example, a personal air freshener that connects to a computer and creates a pleasant smell around you, protecting you from other, not always pleasant, aromas. Or a soft animal dancing to the music that is turned on on the computer - great entertainment for you and your colleagues in And for those who like to sometimes get distracted during the working day, you just need to install a miniature spy camera, which tracks all movements near your workplace and warns of the approach of, for example, a boss.

So, now you know the answer to the question: “Gadgets - what are they?”, what they are, and what benefits they can bring. Although, of course, we have mentioned only a few devices in this class. In fact, there are many more of them, and each of them is unique in its own way. We are sure that in the endless sea of ​​gadgets you will also be able to find a device that is suitable for you, which will bring a lot of joy or will become an indispensable assistant.

For hundreds of years, humanity has used devices, mechanisms and devices in their final functionality, which does not allow for improvement. This was the case before the advent of the technogenic era. Since the 19th century, the owners various devices got the opportunity to expand their functions using non-standard, but specially designed add-ons. The general name for all such improvements has become the English word “gadget”.

All devices depicted here are gadgets. However modern meaning The term “gadget” is much broader.

The development of production, which accelerated sharply 150 years ago, gave rise to numerous adaptations to machine tools. Remember correct names All such devices were difficult for workers. However, they found a convenient way out - they called all such devices with the streamlined word “crap”. “Where is that long thing?” or “give me that shiny crap!” - phrases commonly used by the work team of any enterprise in the post-technogenic era. In fact, the English “gadget” has the same meaning as the Russian “khrenovina”.

The word “gadget” was coined and actively used in a rather closed professional society - in the British Navy in the mid-19th century. The ship's crews called gadgets tools and devices whose names they did not know or remember. It was from naval slang that this word spread among various groups of the population of England interested in technical progress. For example, in the society of bikers at the beginning of the last century, gadgets were devices and objects installed by the owner of a motorcycle on the handlebars. These were mirrors, speedometers and levers, as well as mascots, badges and more.

The equipment of military ships of the 19th century became very complex. In order not to remember the difficult names of the devices, the sailors called them gadgets.

In the middle of the 20th century, the meaning of the word “gadget” changed - in the United States it began to refer to compact and mobile devices intended for individual use. American critic Rayner Banham gave the following definition to a gadget: “autonomous unit high performance, ensuring the transformation of a certain set of circumstances into compliance with human desires. To set up and use it, you need minimal skill. The gadget does not belong to any specific social infrastructure; any user can order it from a catalog and receive it delivered.”

So everything technical devices personal use Since the middle of the last century they began to be called gadgets. Game consoles, tablets, smartphones, vapes, etc. similar devices– gadgets. Even televisions, which back in the 90s were exclusively a family (i.e. mass) means of entertainment in the evening, are today recognized as individual gadgets.

For the first time, window gadgets (essentially widgets) appeared on the Amiga personal computer monitor.

The 21st century introduced a new mass product of modern technology into the homes of earthlings - Personal Computer. There is an urgent need for software, capable of expanding and improving the functions of the basic shell. The developers of one of the early PC operating systems, AmigaOS, named a group of built-in applications integrated into the main software system to improve the graphical interface as gad tools.library. The developers of the Amiga operating system took the first part of the name - gad - from popular word gad get.

Now such graphic gadgets are associated with GUI widgets - controls in the user graphical interface. Windows, Apple or Google OS gadgets are called when the user clicks on the widget associated with them - a label, button or banner.

It’s easy to select and install the desired gadget (widget) from Google - just go to the specialized website of this company. True, some gadgets will be paid.

The term “gadget” was born from the technologies of the 19th century, which will continue to develop in the following centuries. Many words that were recently popular among the masses will soon become archaisms and disappear, but gadget - the areas of application of this word will expand with each decade. Take a look, for example, at the images on the left side on this page of the swagor.com blog (if you are surfing from a smartphone, then the widgets under this article) - these are widgets, clicking on which will take you to the articles of the past month that were popular among visitors. And each of these widgets is a gadget.

Greetings, dear reader! Today you can often hear the word “GADGET”. Its meaning seems clear, but I was interested in learning a little more about it. It turned out that I mistakenly associated the concept of a gadget only with computer equipment.

Gadgets are the most modern legend

What is this gadget for a teapot, a new user. No on him special guidance or separate instructions manual. This is a nickname, a name, a label, not a concept or a specific product. Moreover, it is not necessarily a device: some software applications are called gadgets (or widgets). But we are not talking about them now.

Convenient shortcut

In general, most people call it a gadget mobile device, which has a unique design. It could be a smartphone, PDA, MP3 player, laptop, etc., which meets these conditions. In reality, these assessments are subjective, and the term “gadget” is used much more often. It fills empty space, left with standard names. A wide variety of products are appearing, more and more advanced and strange, with fantastic capabilities and unprecedented designs.

Terminology is not able to keep up with modern progress to find the right name for each. This is where the savior “gadget” appears, a label that does not require precise definition. What's happened ? What is a smart watch? Gadgets. What's happened electronic alarm clock? What is an internet connected bracelet? Of course, gadgets. Naturally, this term also applies to mobile phones, precisely because the label “ mobile phone“ is outdated and has not expressed itself for a long time technical capabilities this device.

Product of human mind and hands

According to Wikipedia, the term “gadget” was first used in 1800. It was used, as it is today, to designate a device for which a name had not yet been invented. The source used by the English Dictionary is the book “Spunyarn and Spindrift” by Robert Brown. Some argue that this term comes from the name of the firm that erected the Statue of Liberty: Gaget, Gauthier & Cie. Others believe that it was born in French, being a derivative of gachette (a small instrument or accessory).

It's sad, but the first atomic bomb was also called a gadget by scientists who tarnished their name by participating in the Manhattan Project. You can read it in Wired interesting article about several devices found by archaeologists, which the author called the most important gadgets in human history. This article is interesting for history buffs, but you should not call those items gadgets to prevent demonetization of the term.

Without a generally accepted definition and not being strictly associated with a specific product, a gadget is a mirage and a point of attraction for all people. Smartphone itself latest generation, more or just a new video camera are products of the human mind and hands, at the sight of which the hand itself reaches into its pocket. At the end of the day: a product's label doesn't matter that much, what's more important is its relevance and functionality.

Life without gadgets

No matter where a person is, at home or at work, in his car or on a bus, train or hospital, gadgets surround him. At home there is a TV, projector, DVD, radiotelephone. The kitchen is full of gadgets, unless of course you are using grandma's oven. Most people get to work by car, which is stuffed with modern devices. Today, almost all workplaces have it installed, if not for working on it, then for receiving information. If 50 years ago, more than 5,000 people worked at a car production plant, today only 500 cope with this work. How? Of course, thanks to gadgets: effective, fast, safe.

Human life also depends on gadgets. Who would want to be treated in a hospital where there are no sophisticated surgical devices that will allow the operation to be performed faster, safer and with less scarring. If after the removal of an ordinary appendix, back in the 1980s, an ugly scar of 6-8 centimeters remained, today there are 2 points, almost invisible. The 15-centimeter scars left after a caesarean section adorned the amazing female body even less. Today, young mothers do not have to worry about this: the scar is completely miniature and hidden.

Of course, people today cannot live without gadgets. Why? Because he does not have time to make a fire and cook food on it. Because it's unacceptable to wait for hours necessary information. The truth is that these devices make life easier and the modern person has time for family, for entertainment or, very rarely, for lighting a fire and preparing a snack with close friends. Do people need gadgets? Of course, everyone must decide for themselves. Everyone must decide how to use modern technology and at what level.

PS: Interesting Facts

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Hello, dear readers of the blog site. In the circle where I communicate, the terms device and gadget are often used, but the speaker does not always realize that these concepts are somewhat different and not synonymous. Moreover, often what should be called a device is called a gadget and vice versa. In this small publication, I decided to dot all the i's so that no doubts would arise.

The confusion most likely stems from the fact that these terms were borrowed from English and were used by many along with “wow” to emphasize their involvement in the world of technological progress and to show their advancedness in this matter. That's why I want to define what is a gadget and what is a device in their original understanding, and also determine the fine line of difference in these concepts.

What is a device?

The term "device" comes from the English words device and means some fairly complex device, device or machine. Since we have recently been surrounded by such things (computers, laptops, smartphones, gaming consoles etc.), then it becomes clear why this term has become so widespread. It’s easier to say the device than the full name of the device, which many don’t even remember.

However, not every device falls under this definition. Are yours wrist watch device? Is there an alarm clock on the table? Probably not. They do not live up to this lofty concept, because they lack technology and sophistication (many functions). Here is a watch with telephone function, with radio and built-in hard drive is device.

It should also be more or less compact (well, at least as compact as a computer or printer). A communications satellite is much more functional than anything else we come across, but it’s hard to call it that word. But a modern mobile phone, music player, video recorder, camera, navigator, game console, pedometer, food processor and other technical gadgets containing at least one microcircuit are devices.

And most importantly, what, in my opinion, distinguishes device from the gadget - the first one should be a complete device, which only needs energy in the form of batteries or a connection to the network to operate. Gadgets, by definition, are only an addition to something, but more on that below.

What is a gadget and its difference from a device?

So, what is a gadget by definition? The history of this word comes from the English gadget, which means a device from the category of new products. Here's something hot out of the heat and right into the hands of users.

But gadget- this, unlike a device, is not a complete (independent and self-sufficient) device, but some kind of technological addition to it (like an external modem for a tablet or laptop, or an external flash for a camera). Although many of us often consider a laptop in the given example to be a gadget, and a modem made in the form of a USB flash drive to be a device.

Other examples of gadgets are computer parts, which cannot work on their own, but serve important parts main device. Those. gadgets cannot work independently and are designed to expand the functionality of the main device.

By the way, if we move from the world of hard drive to the world of software, then here we will also encounter the term gadget (widget), which will have a very similar interpretation - a small software application, providing some small additional functionality or some rather highly specialized information (for example, a weather or clock widget on the desktop Windows desktop). In general, from the category of “trifle, but nice.”

So, let's summarize. The gadget has increased functionality compared to the main device, but at the same time it has quite limited opportunities, because it cannot be used on its own, but serves only as an addition to the device. It is connected to the latter by some kind of connector or inserted entirely into the niche intended for it.

But in our daily lives we are so accustomed to equating these two concepts that my publication is unlikely to change anything in the existing balance of power, when device and gadget have merged into a single whole and are synonymous for 90 percent of RuNet residents. It seems to me that nothing can change this, although for general development yet it makes sense to know the true position. IMHO.

Good luck to you! Before see you soon on the pages of the blog site

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And I (like other residents) can write my posts here and respond to your comments.

Before we start sharing information with you about useful things from electronic world, discuss their strengths and weak sides, I'd like to do a little lyrical digression about the word and concept itself GADGET.

The word gadget has long entered our lexicon and is often used when we're talking about about products in the field information technologies. But, unfortunately, many people do not know the exact meaning of this word.

Let's try to understand this in more detail

Inside Steve Wozniak's backpack (clickable).

Actually in English language word "gadget" has a very broad and abstract meaning and is translated into Russian as “little thing”, “device”. If you take it apart exact value the word gadget in Russian, it turns out that there is no clear answer to this question.

Wikipedia authors define a gadget as a specialized peripheral device with limited capabilities. This device is usually connected via standard connectors to more complex devices and is designed to expand their functionality. But in everyday life, gadgets have a broader meaning. Now they include small digital technology eg mobile phones, tablets, pocket computers etc. Moreover, this word is also used in software, which is nothing more than a widget.

To summarize the above, let us dwell on the general interpretation of this word as a kind of device that is an addition to the main devices. For example, a Flash card is a gadget to telephone set, car gps navigator - a gadget for a car, etc.

By the way, the origin of the word “ gadget” also remains vague. The first appearance of the word in English popular literature occurred in 1886, when a book by Robert Brown entitled "Spunyarn and Spindrift" was published, in which the word "gadget" ( gadget) is used by sailors to refer to an object whose name they did not remember.

Americans tell everyone that the word comes from the name of the company Gaget, Gauthier & Cie, which participated in the creation of the Statue of Liberty, and, having made a small model of the statue, named it by this name.

The French are sure that the basis of this word was the French “gagee”, which can be translated as “small accessory.” And the Oxford English Dictionary version seems even more plausible, dating the appearance of the word to the decade of 1850, and attributing the origin of the word to the lock mechanism, in French. "gâchette"(collar, bracket) or fr. gagee (bracket, fastener, clamp)

And finally, the Scots know for sure that the word comes from their engineering jargon, where gadget is a form of measuring instrument.

Gadgets tend to be quirkier and smarter than conventional technologies. In some circles, the difference between a gadget and a gizmo is believed to be that a gizmo has moving parts, whereas a gadget does not. For example, stylish digital clock is a gadget, and analog ones are gizmos. Creating gadgets, gizmos, blobjects is art, abstractionism, surrealism, impressionism, minimalism. You see this when innovations in the field of electronics are intertwined with the ideas of designers and incredible things are born (usually in small editions), which over time may well end up in a museum as representatives of the birth of the era of affordable Hi-Tech technologies. In contrast to a gadget, a device that has no practical purpose is called a novelty gadge - a form of measuring instrument. The spring clamp used to hold the vessel in the glass making process is also known as a gadget.

The gadget was the name given to the first atomic bomb, so named by scientists of the Manhattan Project, tested on the website of Trinity College.

Here's an example of what gadgets were like in 1935:

In literature, gadgets are best known from spy films, especially the James Bond series. Super heroes, especially Batman and Ironman, have a huge variety of gadgets. There is a well-known cartoon character Inspector Gadget, whose fabulous power comes from a set of gadgets. Also in the Disney cartoons Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Gadget Hackwrench, one of the main characters has the internal ability to create tools and other equipment from garbage and junk.

Quite often found with gadgets devices(from English device device). This word means " small device or device." The word device came into Russian through the jargon of computer scientists. Strictly speaking, a device is some kind of gadget for a computer, for example, a flash card. In modern speech device can act as a synonym for gadget

Computer lovers use gadgets for more effective modding< modifying модификация), т.е. индивидуального художественного оформления корпуса ПК.

And, in conclusion, let us mention widgets(from the English widget - thing). The word widget is the American version of gadget, meaning any object or device, the name of which has been firmly forgotten. Perhaps this word comes from which is? what's it called? + gadget. In modern Russian speech, widget is used in connection with Internet technologies, where does it mean additional tool on the website or on your desktop. The first widgets appeared in operating system Windows-Vista. There they were located in one special panel. Now, in Windows 7 and 8, they can be placed anywhere on the desktop. So the word “gadget” is also used in software, where it is understood as a small application that provides Additional information, such as weather forecasts, news headlines or exchange rates.

Let's start with the iPod, who still remembers about it?

It was one of the first Apple devices created according to a new concept submitted by Steve Jobs. The concept involved positioning Macs as stations for connecting additional devices created by Apple Corporation.

To come up with a catchy name for a new device, Steve Jobs assembled a whole team of copywriters, among whom was the author of the iPod, Vinnie Chieco.

They say that Jobs already had a slogan for the MP3 player: “1000 songs in your pocket,” so nothing limited the copywriters’ imagination and did not tie it to the musical theme.

“As soon as I saw the white iPod, I immediately remembered the movie 2001,” Chico told Wired in 2006. The fact is that the interaction between the computer and the music player reminded him of the interaction between a spaceship and an escape capsule, which in this film was called an EVA pod. “All that was left was to add the prefix ‘i’ and it was all done.”

So, a piece of this name “pod”, literally meaning “detachable cargo compartment”, served as the basis for the “iPod” brand, which has become a household word in music lovers’ circles.

BlackBerry

These communicators, extremely popular in the USA and slightly less popular in Europe (many in the CIS countries have not even heard of them), were created by the Canadian company Research in Motion (RIM). This company set as its goal the creation of a device that would help without any problems busy person communicate with your business partners, friends and relatives. One of the main points of the plan when developing such a device was to simplify access to email.

The developers came up with general concept devices could not be found appropriate name. They did not want to use either the word form “e-mail” itself or its derivatives. I wanted to come up with a name that would be interesting and at the same time give a feeling of relaxation and comfort. Someone accidentally said that the device's buttons look a little like a blackberry, which in English is called "BlackBarry". To be honest, for me personally the word “blackberry” immediately evokes an association with mighty thorny bushes that are an impassable obstacle for all living things. But, obviously, Canadians have different associations, and therefore the word “BlackBerry” served as the name for the high-tech device.

Flash drive

The history of the creation of the USB flash drive began in Japan in 1984, when Toshiba invented semiconductor reprogrammable flash memory. Specifically, the first flash drive was invented by the Japanese Fuji Masuoka. There were only 5 people in his company. But the name “flash” was invented by Fuji’s colleague. Erasing information from the media reminded him of a photoflash, and this association formed the basis for the name of the new gadget.

Statistics

Well, in conclusion look at what interesting data we have at the moment. According to the data Foundation "Public Opinion" (FOM):

80% of our fellow citizens, when leaving home, usually have at least something portable with them consumer electronics. 8% take two or three different gadgets with them. Every tenth person, however, does not consider it necessary to grab a single such item

As FOM sociologists have found out, the most popular electronic device in Russia is a mobile phone. The vast majority of citizens use it - 91%. IN separate groups of the population, the percentage of “mobile telephony” is even higher - 95-96% among people from 18 to 60 years old. Only the oldest people lag behind, but even among pensioners, 77% use a mobile phone.

In any case, three quarters of Russians (72%) can no longer imagine their lives without a mobile phone.

Every third or fourth average Russian (28%) and half of young people under 30 have already purchased and successfully used a laptop or netbook. 15% of young people do not part with them at all. Every tenth citizen of Russia (11%) has a smartphone (among young people - every fourth), the same number of owners in Russia music players. Tablet PC or 7% have an iPad. Every twentieth person uses e-books(among young people - approximately every tenth). One in a hundred Russians has everything on this list. Only 6% do not have any such gadgets. True, here a lot depends on the age of the respondents: among older people, every fourth person does not like “electronic toys” and does not have them at hand.

Our fellow citizens would not be themselves if they refused to philosophize. They cannot live without electronic devices. But at the same time, they thoughtfully discuss whether all this progress is for the good or vice versa and what it ultimately brings to people.

According to 67% of Russians, electronic devices in general are “more useful.” 17% believe that new products are more harmful than useful. Another 16% found it difficult to answer.

The following was definitely a plus for gadgets:

44% appreciated the ability to quickly and available communication, communication. Citizens are especially pleased with the fact that they can chat on the phone directly from their garden beds and “without running to the post office,” they can get through quickly and easily.

23% noted the convenience and comfort that they provide useful gadgets- “for those who understand this,” naturally.

13% like what electronic devices provide permanent access on the Internet, they help you get information.

11% consider the compactness and small size of these devices to be a special advantage. People who suffered with “the world’s largest Russian microcalculators” could not answer otherwise.

For 4%, gadgets have become the best sedative: people stopped worrying about the “old and young,” husbands and wives, relatives in the hospital, etc.

With the advent of gadgets, 3% began to save time and get more done, quickly solving their problems.

1-2% also noted other advantages of electronic innovations: the fact that they make life “more eventful,” help pass the time in traffic jams, and combine several instruments and devices at once. And in general - “in our time it is impossible to live without them,” they “expand space,” develop intelligence and even change a person’s worldview.

Only one Russian out of a hundred does not see any positive aspects in gadgets.

Respondents noted and negative sides gadgets. In this case, they focused on ecology, physiology and psychology.

35% of Russians believe that electronic devices can harm the health of users - ruin their eyesight, cause headaches, etc. due to electromagnetic radiation and "waves". This is the main complaint; all the others were expressed much less frequently.

5% are afraid that gadgets “subjugate a person”, cause addiction, and “draw in” those who are too keen on such “toys.”

4% said that children should be very carefully allowed near electronic devices in order to protect their psyche, as well as their eyesight and hearing. In addition, Russians believe that children in general should move more, “play football, and not sit at the computer so that you can’t tear yourself away!”

3% complained that gadgets actually steal their free time.

2% noted that the purchase of such devices makes significant holes in family budget- “The money is being stolen - you won’t have time to deposit it into your account.”

1% are disappointed that in some places the quality of communication is very low, batteries run out quickly, etc. And among the “philosophical” complaints, sociologists added to the list that gadgets, in the opinion of Russians, lead to the loss of “live communication” skills and interfere with in public places(“minibuses are like telephone points”, “telephones jingle in theaters and at concerts”), carry too much uncontrollable negative information. Russians are also very worried that electronics are becoming a tool of various kinds of scammers or a carrier of unfair intrusive advertising.

14% do not see any negative aspects in the widespread use of electronic devices.

Biggest fans electronic gadgets- young and middle-aged people with higher education, high income, residents of megacities, Internet users. The opponents and especially distrustful ones are elderly and low-income Russians (there is little surprise here).

Sociologists saved the most philosophical question for last. They asked Russians' opinion about what electronic devices ultimately give people - freedom or even greater dependence?

65% of citizens were unanimous: with new gadgets, people have only become freer. Only 16% are convinced that electronic innovations “restrict the freedom” of their owners.

Well, at the end of our conversation, I would like to dream about the future. I’ll show you a video that took me several decades (more?) forward, although someone says that this is a banal glass advertisement :-(